Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign! (11/12/2013)

Let’s face it, despite the old saying, most of us always consider the cover when deciding whether or not to pick up a book. I’ve always been a firm believer that the cover can tell you quite a bit about a title. Often times, publishers award the most desirable covers to the books they think are going to make them the most money. Even though it’s not a foolproof method, you could say that books with beautiful covers usually deserve a second look. That doesn’t mean a good book can’t have a crappy cover, as quite a few of my redesign selections today are among my all-time favorites. So without further ado:

Top Ten Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign!

The Eye the World by Robert Jordan

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

Joust by Mercedes Lackey

The Soprano Sorceress by L.E. Modesitt

The Name the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Runelords by David Farland

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

The Program by Suzanne Young

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Interestingly enough, three of my ten covers were illustrated by the same person… I guess it’s safe to say his work just doesn’t speak to me. I’ve also included two Richelle Mead books because, as my favorite, I need covers that will help entice people to pick them up. There’s nothing worse than handing a customer a book with the disclaimer “don’t let the cover throw you off, it’s excellent!” The added visual really does help me get people excited to try new series. I realize a few of these actually have been redesigned, but I include them on my list anyway because I still don’t like how they were done.

I love covers, so as a bonus I decided to include my:

Top Ten Favorite/Least Favorite Cover Redesigns:

Favorite Changes – Before:

Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Favorite Changes – After:

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

Sword – Dancer/Sword – Singer by Jennifer Roberson

The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Least Favorite Changes – Before:

First Truth by Dawn Cook

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Least Favorite Changes – After:

First Truth by Dawn Cook

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I liked the old designs better… I’m almost embarrassed to hand the Dawn Cook series to anybody now – it’s one of my favorite Dragon stories, but you’d never know it from the new covers.

I hope you enjoyed the extra mile I went this week. What book covers would you like to redesign?